News Release

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Armed Robbery Suspect Points Handgun at Police NR11032kr

Los Angeles: An armed robbery suspect was shot and killed by police early Tuesday morning after leading them in a foot pursuit and pointing a handgun at them.

On January 18, 2011, at approximately 0010 hours, an attempt armed robbery occurred near the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Roscoe Boulevard. The victims immediately called police and officers from Los Angeles Police Department Topanga Area responded.

As the officers were searching the area for the suspect, they saw a male Hispanic in the 22100 block of Roscoe Boulevard that matched the description provided by the victims of the attempt robbery. When the officers made contact with the suspect to detain him, the suspect refused to comply with their commands and let them on a short foot pursuit.

During the chase, the suspect pointed a small caliber handgun at the officers and an officer involved shooting occurred. Police Officer III+I Dennis Cunningham, 12 years, 5 months with the department fired his service weapon striking the suspect several times. The officers immediately called for medical assistance. LAFD personnel responded and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neither the victims of the attempt robbery nor the officers were injured during the incident. A small caliber semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the scene.

Force Investigation Division personnel responded and are conducting the investigation into the officer involved shooting.

The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Department’s use of force policy which states that officer’ use of force actions must be objectively reasonable. Additionally the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division will conduct a comprehensive review of the facts of the Officer Involved Shooting.